A few days ago I attended a Dove event where comedian Samantha Bee spoke about all things beauty—one of them being exfoliants. She said, "The other day, I'm pretty sure I exfoliated a patch of skin from the future," and then hilariously went on about how deep exfoliation has reached a new level.
And she's right. So, to her point, there are a few things we'd like to say about exfoliating your face: 1. Your skin is not a 2x4 board that needs sanding—be gentle, people, gentle! 2. Exfoliating, while it can do your skin a lot of good, can also do worse things in the long run if it's not done properly (i.e. broken blood vessels).
To be sure we're all on the same exfoliating page, we asked Dennis Gross, M.D., a cosmetic dermatologist in NYC, a few Q's about when and how to slough your skin—and the warning signs of over-exfoliation.
"The [tell-tale] signals that you're using your exfoliator too much include: excessive dryness, irritation, redness, and sensitivity. If you see any of these signs occuring on your complextion, it's important to stop using the product immediately."
"As far as manual exfoliants go, such as scrubs with tiny granules, sloughing sponges, or hand-held devices, I find that many people overuse them and/or scrub too vigorously," says Gross. "Cleaning your skin daily with a washcloth, and applying very light pressure using circular motions, [is usualy] all you need to gently remove most dead-skin cells."
"You can also use a scrub [three to four times a week] that contains perfectly round and smooth polyethylene beads [like Bioré Pore Unclogging Scrub, $7, drugstore.com, which are gentler than seeds, nuts, husks, or pits commonly used in exfoliating products," he says. "My preference is for daily, gentle chemical exfoliation [aka heavier-hitting ingredients] over physical [aka manual] exfoliation, which is one of the reasons I developed the Alpha Beta Peels [$78, sephora.com."
On the other hand, if you're a die-hard hand-held device fan that can't be talked into using a scrub or washcloth, we recommend using the power tool once or twice a week only to avoid over-exfoliation.
If you're already a victim of excessive sloughing, and you're left red and raw, don't worry—there's still hope for your skin.
"To calm your complexion once it's red, use products that contain green-tea extract," says Gross. "The powerful ingredient soothes the skin and studies show it can even help prevent skin cancer. Bisabolol is another effective anti-inflammatory ingredient derived from chamomile, which will relieve red patches and reduce inflammation. And licorice root extract and cucumber extract also work to soothe and calm the skin, alleviating redness."
Are you an over-exfoliation offender?
Photo: thinkstockphoto
Follow Carly Cardellino on Facebook and Twitter.
Carly Cardellino was the beauty director at Cosmopolitan. If you follow her Instagram, then you know she'll try just about any beauty trend or treatment once (the pics of her purple hair are on IG to prove it). But her favorite part about being in beauty is finding the most effective products, and then sharing that intel with others—because who wants to spend money on stuff that doesn't work? No one, that's who. Her most recent discovery: De La Cruz Sulfur Ointment, which will change your blemish-clearing game! Hopefully through the beauty stories she writes—and the experiences she shares—you can see exactly why she's in this business.
